In this excellent post ‘The Habit Dip‘, Leo Babauta goes deeper at what happens in this unavoidable dip when one tries to learn a new skill or habit. And how this moment of despair is also an incredible opportunity to learn about oneself.
All changes are hard and most go through a dip: after the initial excitement of discovering a new skill or habit, there is some sort of valley of death where progress is extremely difficult and disappointment can set in. It is the moment one should not abandon the change, and we all have to cross it.
Leo Babauta makes the point that “the dip is an incredible place of learning. It’s the place where we learn and grow, and get better at facing difficulty. When things are going well, everything seems easy, and you just have to keep doing the same thing. There isn’t a lot of learning there. But when things are hard, you have to face the difficulty if you want to keep going, if you want to avoid going to your usual pattern of discouraging yourself or quitting.“
Therefore when we are faced with this unavoidable moment, it is a good thing to become introspective and to analyze what happens to oneself. Being curious and in the learning mode will teach you much about yourself.
We all go through the dip when we try to change. It can be a struggle, but also a great learning moment about oneself. Let’s exploit it that way!
